Snapchat makes a play for mobile messaging

Snapchat, the ephemeral photo sharing app, unleashed a new feature Thursday in a bid for the mobile message market.

The app, which launched in 2011 and since then has made headlines for reportedly turning down multi-billion dollar acquisition offers, quickly gained a reputation as “the sexting app.” But Snapchat’s twentysomething founders have always viewed the app’s potential in much grander terms, as a way to rethink mobile communication.

“We felt that Snapchat was missing an important part of conversation: presence,” the company said in a blog post. “There’s nothing like knowing you have the full attention of your friend while you’re chatting.”

Until now the core functionality of Snapchat has been the ability to send photo messages that disappear after a few seconds. The goal was always to allow users to communicate more in the moment, a fleeting communication that — like words spoken aloud — quickly fades.

Snapchat’s new features are a riff on the same theme.

Chat allows users to send each other texts, photos or videos. It also lets users know when their friends are in Chat at the same time. When two people are both in a Chat at the same time, they have the option to start a video call. When users leave the Chat, the history of the chat is erased.

Last fall, Snapchat introduced a feature called Stories that also allows Snapchatters to post some snaps publicly.

By all accounts, Snapchat appears to be growing at a breakneck pace: in February, the analytics firm Comscore reported the company has attracted 20 million users, more than quadrupling its user base in a year. In December the company raised a $50 million Series C round of funding.

Since its launch, the Venice Beach-based company has spurned a flurry of competitors. Interest in the mobile messaging space has surged, with social networking giants like Facebook — which is acquiring WhatsApp for $19 billion — looking to buy in.